The present invention is directed to guitar bridges and more particularly to vibrato style guitar bridges.
The Fender Stratocaster was introduced in the early 1950s and it has since become one of the most popular electric guitars of all time. The vibrato bridges (sometimes referred to as tremolo) found on the Stratocaster and other similar guitars are all affected by a similar problem; the strings go out of tune (i.e. sharp) when the vibrato arm is depressed and then released.
Several products currently on the market are designed to correct the inherent design flaws of tremolo style bridges. The two most popular models are the Floyd Rose and Wilkinson vibratos. The Wilkinson vibrato offers improved quality construction as compared with the original Stratocaster hardware, but does not solve the inherent tuning problem. The Floyd Rose vibrato design does address the tuning problem; however, other difficulties remain. Specifically, the Floyd Rose vibrato design is complicated, has a non-traditional look, and does not fit well with vintage guitars. Additionally, both the Floyd Rose and Wilkinson vibratos require extensive and irreversible modification of the guitar body and neck.
Locking nuts are also known in the art to assist in maintaining the tuning of the strings. Known locking nuts, however, require that the head stock be modified. Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a bridge and locking nut that address the problems in the art.